評論
打印
Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Words.
托馬斯·杰斐遜的振聾發聵之語
By Annette Gordon-Reed
文/安妮特·戈登-里德
Thomas Jefferson began life in a monarchy, under the reign of George II, in one of Britain's North American colonies—Virginia.
托馬斯·杰斐遜原本出生于喬治二世掌權的君主制時代，出生地是英國位于北美的殖民地之一——弗吉尼亞州。
In this monarchical system everyone knew his or her place, with little expectation of being able to move very far outside of it.
在當時的君主制體制下，所有人都很識時務，很少指望自己能實現多大的階級躍遷。
Though the American provincials were not on a par with the aristocrats in the mother country,
盡管美國的鄉巴佬無法與母國的貴族相提并論，
they had developed their own version of hierarchy.
但他們也建立起了自己的等級秩序。
Jefferson, by dint of his family ties, was born at the top,
因為家庭血緣的關系，杰斐遜的出生算是最高貴的，
and there would have been no reason to suspect that he would ever come to be associated with the idea of equality.
也正因為如此，我們本沒有任何理由懷疑他會與“平等”兩個字產生任何瓜葛。
This is especially so given that he was born into a slave society,
鑒于他出生的社會還是個奴隸社會，
and his family fully participated in the institution of slavery.
而他的家人中沒有一個人是奴隸制締造過程中的局外人，我們就更沒有理由懷疑他會與“平等”兩個字產生任何瓜葛了。
From an early age, he would have understood what unequal status meant,
年幼時，他或許就已懂得地位不平等意味著什么，
with his lifelong involvement in the most extreme version of it as a slave owner.
所以，身為奴隸主，他終其一生都在以最極端的方式抗爭這種不平等。
The equality of humankind was simply not an expectation in his world.
在他生活的那個世界里，人類的平等并不是大家的期盼。
Yet, as a young man inspired by the books he read that introduced him to the Enlightenment,
然而，作為一個年輕人，一個受到了書籍啟發而走上了啟蒙道路的年輕人，
Jefferson began the process of questioning these hierarchies and status-based power.
杰斐遜開始對這些等級制度和基于地位的權力有了質疑。
As the crisis with Britain flared up,
隨著殖民地與母國英國的危機愈演愈烈，
Jefferson questioned the power of the church (preferring the primacy of science and reason),
杰斐遜不僅對固守大家族權力(繼承權和長子繼承權)和奴隸制道德的法律，
as well as laws that entrenched the power of great families (entail and primogeniture) and the morality of slavery.
還對教會的權力也開始產生了質疑（轉而更傾向于科學和理性至上的思想）。
He began to think of different ways of ordering society.
他開始思考規范社會秩序的其他辦法。
There would be no assumption that a given class of people was born to rule.
在他的思想體系里，沒有什么某一特定階層的人生來就是統治者之說。
If there was to be an aristocracy, it would be one of talent, not birth.
如果硬要有貴族，那也應該由才華，而非出身來決定。
Ordinary people would have a say in how their government was to be constituted.
至于如何組建政府，普通民眾也應享有發言權。
Jefferson's vision of equality was not all-inclusive.
誠然，杰斐遜的平等愿景并沒有做到面面俱到。
Neither the enslaved nor women were part of it.
奴隸問題和女性問題他都沒有觸及。
Native peoples could be, but only if they agreed to assimilate with white people.
原住民倒是可以享有發言權，但前提是他們必須同意與白人同化。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
